How GOP Treats the Tea Party Could Sway November Elections

By

Peter Brown

Mar 24, 2010 7:00 am ET

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, is a former White House correspondent with two decades of experience covering Washington government and politics. Click here for Mr. Brown’s full bio.

The Tea Party movement is a potential asset or liability for the Republican Party. Whether it turns out to be one or the other this fall likely depends on how the GOP treats these voters, who are largely a subset of the party in terms of their demographics, views and values.

If the Tea Party folks can be harnessed as part of the Republicans’ electoral strategy, their energy and strident anti-Obama views could mean a bump in GOP turnout on Election Day. If the GOP goes too far to cater to their interests, of course, it risks losing those who see the Tea Party movement as antithetical to their own interests.

Should Republicans fail to bring the Tea Party people into their fold, they could be seriously hurt at the polls if the movement runs its own candidates in November.

Think of Tea Party members as similar in voter strength to that of African-Americans. Blacks hold considerable sway in Democratic circles, and the Tea Party folks have a similar role in the GOP, if they choose to remain under the Republican tent.

This is why Republicans must walk a tightrope over the next eight months until Election Day. The tip-offs on how the GOP will proceed in this endeavor will be the issues it stresses and the political figures it employs to woo Tea Party votes and money.